


What the Fluff!?

by HitanTenshi



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Child Neglect, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Kissing, Let Sakamoto Ryuji Say Fuck, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26931199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HitanTenshi/pseuds/HitanTenshi
Summary: (alternate title: You'll Nyever See It Coming)Ryuji knows that Ren has a lot in common with cats, but a troublesome target in Mementos makes that more literal (and fluffy) than usual.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 121





	What the Fluff!?

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently I can’t even write a piece about wacky Metaverse magic without a little bit of angst, but overall this is soft and fluffy. All of the meowing puns use the Japanese onomatopoeia nya.  
> There wasn't a good label for this in existing tags, but be warned that the Mementos bit includes mentions of animal cruelty.  
> The child neglect tag is because of Ren's parents.

“Ren…”

“Mm…”

“…Ren, we gotta get up.”

“Mm…” But Ren nuzzles deeper into him, soaking up his warmth. “Mmmmm~”

“Dude, you tryin’ to start purrin’ or somethin’?”

“Mm… Mm-hmm.”

“…I can’t even get mad at you when you’re this cute.” Ren’s bed-head really is something, so Ryuji starts trying to untangle some of the curls, lightly scraping his nails against Ren’s scalp as he goes. “You can act like a cat again after school, okay?”

“Nooo…”

“And he speaks!” With a grunt, Ryuji breaks the seal of the comforter over them and swings his legs over the side of the propped-up futon. “C’mon, you’re nearly there. Just a little more and you’ll return to your humanity, cat-boy!”

“Who’re you calling a cat-boy?” Morgana pipes up from the open staircase, his tone offended.

“Oh, c’mon, don’t you think so, too? Ren’s always actin’ like he’s half-cat or somethin’.”

Ren proves Ryuji’s point by nuzzling his head in little butting motions against Ryuji’s shoulder.

“See? He’s more cat than you are.”

Surprisingly, that seems to make Morgana quite pleased with himself. “O… Oh. I’m glad you’ve finally seen that I am, in fact, not a cat!”

“…I mean, you still look like one…”

“Enough — we can agree on this point, Ryuji.” He chuckles to himself as he trots back downstairs. “Joker is more cat than I am. Yes, that’s true…”

“Dude gets happy about weird things,” Ryuji mutters. He tries to stand up, but Ren’s arms are locked tightly around his midriff. “Oi, Ren-Ren. We’re gonna be late to school.”

“ _Nyooo_ ,” Ren protests. Of course he would throw in the meowing joke, just to be that extra.

“Do I gotta scratch you behind your ears or somethin’?”

Ren looks up at him, gray eyes still hazy with sleepiness as he pouts. “Kisses.”

“Huh?”

“Kisses’ll make me human again.”

“You’re so weird, man. This ain’t The Princess and the Frog…” but Ryuji can’t help but pamper him when he looks so cute.

Several kisses later, Ren has regained enough humanity to function, barely. He still rubs his head against Ryuji at every opportunity on their way to school.

“We’re gonna have to go to different classrooms, y’know,” Ryuji points out as they leave the Aoyama station.

“Don’t wanna. Can’t I just come with you?”

“There’s nowhere for you to sit, man.”

“I’ll sit in your lap.”

“Pretty sure that’d get us in all kinds of trouble. C’mon, you can go to your own class.”

“Nyooo…”

“That again? Morgana, back me up!”

“This is clearly what happens when Joker doesn’t get enough sleep because he’s fooling around with _you_ , Ryuji.”

“Huh? Why is this _my_ fault!?”

“Nyo fighting,” Ren interjects. He says it so seriously that Ryuji has to bite back a laugh, but at least it distracts him from Morgana’s usual tactic of blaming Ryuji for everything.

They reach the school entrance, and Ren sags a little more against Ryuji.

“I don’t wanna be human today,” he mumbles.

Looks like it’s time for drastic measures. Ryuji pulls Ren into the alcove by the vending machines and tucks him against the far corner. Ren’s eyes lock with his, and hell if he doesn’t look like the cat about to get the cream.

Ryuji kisses him until the first bell rings. “Now go and at least _pretend_ to be human, and I’ll give you twice as many kisses later, okay?”

Ren nods, still smirking.

“Gag me with a spoon,” Morgana mutters from Ren’s bag.

+.+.+

Ren appears at Ryuji’s side almost immediately after school lets out, bouncing on his toes. If he had a tail, it would be swishing playfully.

“It’s later,” he announces, expectant.

“Dude, we promised everybody we were gonna do a Mementos run, remember? I’ll give you your kisses _later_ later.”

“But it’s later _now_.”

Ryuji does not know how he had mistaken Ren for cool, calm, or collected when they had first met. He’s shown his true colors as a clingy cat-boy… but that’s forgivable because he’s so damn cute. Still, somebody has to be the responsible one in this relationship (not that Ryuji could ever have imagined _he_ would be the one in that position).

“Mementos first.”

Ren’s pouty lip deals at least forty points of psychic damage to Ryuji’s willpower. “ _Ryuji_ , don’t _nyeglect_ me,” he whines.

“Unbe-fuckin’-lievable… Okay, I’ll give you half of your promised kisses now, and the other half after Mementos, deal?”

“You drive a hard bargain, Sakamoto-san.”

“Take it or leave it, cat-boy,” Ryuji retorts.

Ren takes it. Morgana goes ahead to explain to the other Phantom Thieves why they’re late. Finally, though, everyone has assembled, and they begin their descent into Mementos.

“Maybe it was a mistake to open this door,” Ryuji thinks aloud as he trails at the end of the group. Looking at Joker now, it would be hard to match him to Ren. Joker is decisive and dignified, with just a hint of _cruel_ that does things to Ryuji’s imagination that it really shouldn’t. Next to that, Ren’s recent behavior would put him more in the realm of… high-maintenance, perhaps?

“What door?” Shit, Ann had overheard him.

“Ah… Well…” Then again, maybe an outside opinion could do some good. “Do you think Re— I mean, Joker has been gettin’ increasingly, well… weird?”

“Weird how?”

“Like… he’s on me all the time.”

“TMI, Skull.”

“Not like _that_ !” Though it has happened. “I mean like he acts like bein’ apart from me is a fate worse than death, or some shit. And he’s gotten more… not _childish_ , but…” There’s really no better comparison than the one he’s already been using. “Catlike?”

Ann considers his words for a moment. “Wow, you’re right. It’s kind of cute, though.”

He goes slack, relieved he isn’t alone in that conclusion. “Right? It makes me wanna pamper him. But… if I do that, I’m just gonna make it worse, right?”

“Hmm… This is just my guess, but this could be his way of opening up? Being more vulnerable?” She pauses. “Showing you his tummy?”

“Oi, you were the one who threw the TMI flag.”

She giggles. “Sorry. Still, he was so closed off when he first came to Tokyo, right? And from what he’s told us, things were really rough for him back home. Maybe he hasn’t had anyone to pamper him in a while, so you’re getting the overflow of whatever neediness he’s been holding back?”

“Huh… that makes sense, I guess.”

“Do you _mind_ that he acts like this around you?”

“N… Not really. It’s cute. But I don’t wanna be the bad kind of enabler, like encouragin’ him to stop bein’ a functional human being, y’know?”

“I’m sure you have it under control.”

“That makes one of us…”

She gives him a hearty slap on the back. “You’ve got this!”

+.+.+

“I don’t got this!” Ryuji yelps as he barely manages to duck a Wind attack from their latest target, which has taken the form of a large feral cat, except with some kind of oni mask for a face. It’s both ironic and fitting, since the post about this guy had said he was torturing the cats in his area. Just how many lowlives are there in this world that get off on kicking cats, huh!? It’s messed up!

Having thrown himself off-balance, Ryuji lands sprawled on the rough gravel ground and gets a little dazed from the impact.

“Skull!” Even with Joker’s confidence in the Metaverse, worry leaks into Ren’s voice.

“‘M fine,” he groans as he rolls over. “Just get the Shadow.”

Like many of their Mementos targets, this opponent doesn’t seem to know how to shut up. The distorted voice makes his rambling sound like yowling. “It’s not fair!” he bemoans. “Why do they get to have such easy lives!? If I can’t have that, why should they!?”

“That kind of twisted logic is no excuse,” Makoto reprimands, adjusting her fighting stance.

“It’s reprehensible,” Yusuke agrees. “Taking one’s anger out on weaker creatures… There’s nothing beautiful about it.”

Due to their cat-themed appearances, Morgana and Ann are hanging back for this battle, in case their presence might further aggravate the Shadow. Which means there’s no one to sub for Ryuji if he gets taken out by this guy. Bracing himself, Ryuji pushes back up onto his feet using his steel pipe for support.

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Ren asks him.

“I’m sure,” he quips back, only a little defensive. “Just don’t you use any Persona with Wind weaknesses, okay?”

Ren nods. Just as he turns his attention back to the fight, however, their opponent focuses on him in return.

“You,” the Shadow snarls. “ _You_ understand — I can smell it on you. You envy that easy life, too, don’t you?”

“We aren’t the same,” Ren contradicts, his tone cold, “I don’t mutilate defenseless animals.”

The Shadow cackles. “Maybe I should mutilate _you_ , then, since you already smell so much like my usual prey!”

Out of the nose and mouth holes of the oni mask curl wisps of smoke, and the Shadow rears back.

“Guard!” Makoto shouts, and everyone heeds her. It’s a smart move — they don’t know what this attack will do. Whatever it is, Ryuji has a bad feeling about what the Shadow had just said.

Like a dragon spewing flame, the Shadow spits out a spray of that smoke, but rather than engulfing all of them, it targets only Ren. Ryuji’s breath lodges in his throat as, in the vague shapes he can make out through the plumes of smoke, Ren disappears. When the crosswind blows the remnants of the smoke away, there’s only the lumpy pile of Joker’s clothes left behind.

Ryuji loses it. Everything goes red. He screams and swings his pipe at the Shadow again and again and again, unable to distinguish whether or not it makes contact. Even when the Shadow traps him under his front paws, Ryuji keeps thrashing wildly, cursing at the top of his voice.

“I like a chase,” the Shadow croons. “Make sure you bring my new prey with you next time, all right?”

And then he’s gone.

Ryuji sits up, scrambling around in search of their foe, but no luck.

“Bastard!! Come back here so I can bash your fuckin’ face in!!”

“Skull, please calm down,” but Ryuji swats away Makoto’s hand.

“I can’t fuckin’ calm down!! That piece of shit just—!” His voice breaks. “Ren just—!”

“Um… everyone…”

They all look at Yusuke, who in turn is looking at the pile of Joker’s clothes with intensity. “There’s something moving.”

Ryuji is there in an instant, not knowing what he’s looking for or what he’ll find, but he tosses articles of clothing this way and that until he discovers… a cat. A cat a little smaller than Morgana, but fluffier and all black, with gray eyes (which look very strange on a cat).

“H… Huh?” Ryuji looks around at the other Phantom Thieves, equally confused, then back to the cat. “Um…”

“I’m not hurt,” says the cat, in Ren’s voice.

Everyone collapses to their knees in relief. Ryuji full-on lays down on his back and throws one arm over his eyes so he can try to preserve a little of his pride.

“Dummy,” he sniffles, “I thought you’d gone and bit the dust. Scared the fuck outta me.”

“Sorry.” The voice comes from much closer than Ryuji would have expected. He lifts his arm and finds that the cat (Ren) has padded over to him, ears flattened against his fluffy head. Then the Ren-cat scoots closer and licks at a scrape on Ryuji’s face, and Ryuji quite suddenly can’t find the willpower to complain about anything.

“Well, this is… unprecedented,” says Makoto.

“Joker makes for an exquisite feline,” Yusuke muses.

“Um… c-can you guys get Mona? Maybe he’ll know what to do, bein’ a cat and all?” Right now, Ryuji just doesn’t want to move, because Ren’s little sandpapery tongue on his face _should not_ be this cute, but it is.

“I’m not a cat!” Morgana yells from what should have been out of earshot.

Eventually, everyone congregates around Ryuji and the transformed Ren, who by that time has climbed up into Ryuji’s lap and settled in, curled around his new fluffy self. He seems way too calm about this whole situation, but… maybe that’s just because he had been so catlike to begin with?

“Hmm…” Morgana looks at Ren from various angles, analyzing. “I don’t think that what’s happened is the same as what changed me into my current form. I can sense the magic here pretty clearly. It won’t be permanent.”

“That is a relief,” says Yusuke, a hand to his chest as he sighs.

“But how do we undo it?” asks Ann, crouched down so she can pet Ren on the head. He nudges up into the contact, encouraging more.

“Based on what that Shadow was saying,” Makoto deduces, “I bet that the spell will end once we defeat the source.”

Ryuji crosses his arms. “But, don’t that mean we gotta use Ren as bait like this? That bastard seemed pretty eager to ‘chase his new prey’ or some shit.”

“That’s true.” Morgana puts his hands on his hips. “But that may be our only option.”

“I don’t mind,” says Ren.

“Since our target mentioned ‘next time,’ I assume we will be hard-pressed to locate it again on this particular excursion,” Yusuke notes. “Tomorrow, perhaps?”

“Which means…” Ryuji looks down at his boyfriend-turned-cat. “Somebody’s gotta look after Ren tonight. He can’t go back to Leblanc like this…”

Ann claps a hand onto his shoulder. “Good luck, Skull.”

“Huh?”

“You’re his boyfriend — isn’t it only natural?” She tilts her head. “Does your apartment not allow pets?”

“That ain’t the issue here!”

“Then what is?”

“Ryuji did promise me kisses after our Mementos run,” Ren cuts in.

“I can’t _kiss_ you when you’re a _cat_ , my dude!”

“Sure you can,” and Ann demonstrates by picking Ren up and sprinkling kisses onto the top of his fluffy head. “There, see?”

Ryuji can feel one of his lower eyelids twitch. “That ain’t the same, and you know it.”

“ _Ryuji_ ,” Ren whines, in perfect replication of several hours prior, “don’t _nyeglect_ me.”

With Ren’s cute little face, ears down and eyes big, Ryuji feels as though he’s just taken a critical hit. “Fuckin’ hell… Okay. But I ain’t takin’ Mona with me, too.”

“Rude,” Morgana snips, “but so long as someone can return me to Leblanc tonight and pick me up tomorrow, I can accept that compromise. We’ll need someone to make an excuse to Boss on Joker’s behalf, anyway.”

So, awkward as it is to exit Mementos without their fearless leader at the head of their group, The Phantom Thieves call it a day. Once they step out of Mementos, a heap of Ren’s real-world clothes appears with them, and Ryuji quickly stuffs those into the bag Morgana usually rides in (might as well have them on hand for tomorrow when they get Ren's transformation reverted). Then he zips up his hoodie so that he can more safely cradle Ren against his chest. On the train ride home, he could swear he feels the vibrations of purring, in addition to the rattle of the tracks.

+.+.+

He tries not to think about the weirdness of present circumstances as he climbs the stairs to his apartment, as he opens the door and kicks off his shoes in the genkan, as he carefully places Ren on the tatami flooring before shuffling around to rearrange his room for sleeping (collapsing the folding table and pulling the futon out of the closet). But when he’s finally reached the point where all that’s left to do is change out of his school clothes and crawl into bed… yeah, at that point it’s weird.

“Um… you hungry at all?” he asks Ren.

“Not really. Maybe that’s an effect of the magic.”

“Morgana gets hungry though, don’t he?”

“Morgana did say this is a different kind of magic,” Ren points out.

Another span of silence that makes Ryuji’s skin itch. Ren doesn’t help matters by licking one of his front paws so he can groom behind his ears. Left with few ways to stall, Ryuji starts to strip. It should not be weirder to strip in front of Ren as a cat than in front of Ren as a human, but it is. Maybe it’s just because Ryuji knows there won’t be any of Ren’s slender fingers creeping up his sides, any of Ren’s warm breath tickling his ear before pulling Ryuji into bed with him and…

Shit. Ryuji forces himself to put a stop to those thoughts before he _really_ embarrasses himself. Still, he finds himself murmuring, “I wish you were here.”

“I am here, though.”

“You know what I mean, man. I can’t… y’know… you’re a cat.”

Ren pads into view, those big eyes dealing psychic damage again. “So no kisses?”

“N… No. Sorry.”

“Nyone at all?”

“I’m not gonna kiss _a cat_ the way I’d kiss you, even if you _are_ that cat.”

Ren pouts, so much so that a distinctly feline whine comes out of his little mouth. Absolutely aggravating. Ryuji groans aloud.

“C’mon, man, this is hard for me, too. You ain't a little kid — you can wait until tomorrow for your kisses.”

“...I know. I don’t want to, though.”

“Me neither, but that’s how it is.” He stiffly finishes changing into sleepwear (which for him is just soft shorts and a tank top) and turns down the blanket of his futon. With only a moment’s hesitation, he looks at Ren. “But I guess you can still sleep over here with me. Just… be careful? You’re small, and I flail around… I don’t wanna squish you, y’know?”

As much as cats can smile, Ren does. Ryuji turns off the ceiling box light and lies down, and soon after he feels the little divots of pressure that mean small cat paws climbing up on top of him. Then, a more concentrated weight settles down on his stomach.

“C… Comfy?” Ryuji asks.

The rumble of purring is confirmation enough. It rises and falls in volume with Ren’s breathing. Ryuji can’t resist slipping a hand out from under his covers to pet Ren’s little form in slow, gentle sweeps.

“I, uh… hope I didn’t jinx you by callin’ you a cat-boy so much lately.”

The vibrations make Ren’s laugh buzz as if he were in a massage chair. “I’m sure the Shadow didn’t read your mind.”

“Kinda seemed like he was readin’ yours, though. Or… smellin’ it on you or whatever.” He swallows. Ann had hinted that Ren’s behavior might be Ren’s way of showing trust in Ryuji, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s okay for him not to let sleeping dogs (or cats) lie. “Do you, um… wanna talk about it? Like… what that guy meant about you envyin’ an easy life?”

The purring stops, and Ryuji immediately fears he’s put his foot in his mouth. But, then… “I do admit, I have had the thought before: looking at a cat sunning itself and wishing that could be me.”

That’s relatable, Ryuji supposes. Fluffy little showoffs parading how much they get to lay around and do nothing. Having no societal expectations must be nice.

“It isn’t just that, though,” Ren continues. “…I’ve always felt like a bit of a stray. Never fitting in anywhere, not even in the place that was supposed to be home. My parents would say they loved me, but to them that just meant that they put a roof over my head and money in my bank account. I can’t remember ever spending more than _minutes_ at a time either of them. ...It’s strange how some people think as little about having a child as they would about having a pet. So long as I didn’t make noise, didn’t take up space, and didn’t cause any trouble, I had a place to sleep, a place to eat. And as soon as I caused a stir, I was abandoned. Shipped off here. …Sometimes I wonder if my parents would even notice if I just… never came back. I’m just a nuisance that they were glad to get rid of.”

Ryuji scoots out from under Ren so that he can sit up. Ren’s ears are flattened to his head again, and Ryuji can’t help pet him all the more gently. This must be the right move, because Ren butts into his hand with his wet nose and gives his palm a lick.

“You’re not a nuisance to me, Ren,” he says, deadly serious. “Not ever.”

“…I know. From the day we met, you’ve always been willing to go the extra mile for me. I can’t put into adequate words how much that’s meant to me, Ryuji. Though, it… also makes me want to be spoiled by you.”

Ryuji chuckles. “Yeah, I picked up on that part. S’okay, though. I like spoilin’ you. It’s kinda my job, as your boyfriend.”

“…Does that mean I can have some kisses after all?”

“You little…” Ryuji lets out a slow groan, then resolves himself. “Okay. Okay, fine. I’ll give you some kisses.”

He honestly can’t tell whether Ren’s cheer is just a meow.

Ren sits up, his tail flicking back and forth periodically. Ryuji does his best to approach this like how he would kiss any adorable cat (if adorable cats would let him close enough to give them affection, which they usually don’t). He cups Ren’s face in his hands and plants gentle kisses on top of his head, the whiskers above Ren’s eyes tickling his chin. He travels down to the forehead, to the tip of Ren’s wet nose, then across each whiskered cheek and behind each ear. Ren is purring loudly before he’s even halfway through, and his front paws start kneading into the meat of Ryuji’s stomach shortly after.

When he’s done, Ryuji has to spit out a couple of black hairs, but it’s well worth it knowing he’s put Ren at ease. “Hurry up and turn back into a human, Ren-Ren.”

“You’ve certainly given me plenty of motivation to get this spell broken,” Ren assures him. “Will you spoil me some more afterward?”

Ryuji gives Ren’s little head an extra pet for good measure. “Sure. But it’s also my job as your boyfriend to rein you in when you get _too_ spoiled, okay?”

“Okay.”

Ren curls up again once Ryuji lies back down, but he continues the push-and-pull motions with his front paws. Between that and the purring, Ryuji can understand why Ren lets Morgana sleep on top of him at Leblanc. This stuff is therapeutic for the soul. Maybe Ryuji should try to be nicer to Morgana in the future so that he can get some of this treatment from their residential cat-shaped comrade. But what Ryuji will look forward to most is the weight of Ren in his real body resting against him as they fall asleep.

+.+.+

It’s fair to say that never have The Phantom Thieves more relentlessly pursued a target in Mementos than they do this one. No quarter, no mercy. Only after the Shadow has melted back into a human shape which grovels before them asking for forgiveness does the air become less saturated with killing intent.

“Apologize to _him_!” Ryuji still shouts at the defeated Shadow, holding out Ren in front of him.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I was wrong!”

“And will you remove your magic?” Makoto presses.

“I will! I will! S-See?”

He snaps, and with a poof of smoke, Ryuji’s arms are suddenly full of his boyfriend. His very naked boyfriend. Thankfully for everyone else, Ren quickly summons Joker’s mask from thin air, and the rest of his attire rematerializes with it.

“So,” says Ren, after regaining his composure, “you’ve learned your lesson?”

“I have! I have!”

“You’ll _nyever_ hurt another cat again?”

The Shadow stops mid-dogeza and looks at Ren, perplexed. Meanwhile, Ryuji tries not to bust a lung from holding in his laughter. Only Ren would deliver a meowing joke deadpan after having been a cat for the last twenty-four hours.

“N… Nyever,” the Shadow confirms.

“Good. Now go turn yourself in.”

“I will…” And he dissolves into light.

Ren turns to his friends. “Well… that was an experience.”

“You were _such_ a cute cat,” Ann confesses.

Yusuke nods. “A fine specimen of the irresistible charm of the feline form.”

“In a less troubling situation, it would have been adorable,” Makoto agrees.

“You were smaller than me, and that was endearing,” Morgana inputs.

“Oi! All of you, quit hittin’ on my boyfriend!” And Ryuji wraps his arms around Ren, pulling him back from the others.

“We aren’t hitting on him,” Ann protests, but Ryuji just does his best impression of hissing at her.

What Ryuji doesn’t expect is for Ren then to reach up and pet his head. “There, there. Nyo one’s going to take me from you.”

“D… Dude, are you doin’ that on purpose, or are you always gonna talk like this now?”

“Who knyows…”

“You’re doin’ it on purpose, aren’t you!?”

Ren turns to Makoto. “Queen, can you drive on our way out?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you.” And he returns to petting Ryuji’s head. “I believe I have some kisses to cash in on.”

“Not in my bus!” Morgana exclaims.

Ren huffs, then looks to Ryuji. “I will expect a full payment later, with interest.”

“How much interest?”

“…Two hundred percent?”

Ryuji has to think about the math for a second before: “You want _three times_ as many kisses!?”

Ren gives him that big-eyed pout. It comes across even with Joker’s mask in the way. “Is that nyot possible?”

Ryuji just buries his face in Ren’s shoulder and shakes his head. This cat-boy is going to be the death of him, but Ryuji can’t think of a better way to go.

It could just be the hum of the Monabus’s engine or the jostle of Mementos’s subway tracks, but Ryuji could swear that, as Ren cuddles with him in the back seat, he feels the rumble of purring.


End file.
